On Tuesday, the woman who founded the advocacy group MeTooSTEM, which was created to fight harassment in the sciences, admitted that she was the creator of a hoax Twitter account of a queer, Hopi scientist supposed to be an Arizona State professor who died of COVID-19 over the weekend.
On July 31, BethAnn McLaughlin, the founder of MeTooStem, announced on Twitter that the supposed professor, who went by the name “@Sciencing_Bi” on Twitter, had died of COVID-19 after battling the virus for months. She wrote on Twitter, “She was a fierce protector of people. No one has ever had my back like that,” as <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/04/apparent-death-hoax-rocks-science-twitter">Inside Higher Ed</a> noted.
But after numerous Twitter users who communicated with or followed the @Sciencing_Bi account started questioning whether the account was real, McLaughlin finally confessed on Tuesday she had faked the account, with her attorney releasing this statement to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/style/college-coronavirus-hoax.html">The New York Times</a>: “I take full responsibility for my involvement in creating the @sciencing_bi Twitter account. My actions are inexcusable. I apologize without reservation to all the people I hurt.”
“The account had blamed ASU for the illness earlier this year, but got basic details about the university&#8217;s response to the pandemic wrong. After McLaughlin announced the death, other people began sleuthing out details that tied the accounts together. ASU said on Sunday that the alleged death appeared to be a hoax,” the Times reported.
In May, @Sciencing_Bi wrote, “ASU kept teachers, staff and students on campus until April. That’s well after we knew this was a killer disease. Many got COVID. Including me.” The @Sciencing_Bi account had “said they were not named because of a fear of retaliation because they were bisexual and because they did not have tenure,&#8221; AZ Central <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2020/08/03/twitter-hoax-falsely-asu-professor-died-coronavirus-bethann-mclaughlin/5576728002/">noted</a>, adding, &#8220;In mid-April, @Sciencing_Bi posted that they had tested positive for COVID-19.&#8221;
Inside Higher Ed reported:
<blockquote>Twitter sleuths traced Sciencing_Bi&#8217;s posted photos, such as a cozy night at home by the fire, to stock photo websites. Others said their own online exchanges with Sciencing_Bi had been strange, as if they’d really been talking to McLaughlin. Once, Sciencing_Bi even asked her supporters to send her cash through McLaughlin&#8217;s Venmo app account, so she wouldn&#8217;t have to &#8220;break pseud.&#8221; The occasion for the request? Sciencing_Bi said her dean asked her if she&#8217;d taken a DNA test to prove her ancestry.</blockquote>
McLaughlin wrote, “Please read her timeline. Campus closed and she was in the hospital a week later. Be mad about COVID but be more mad that BIPOC community is most vulnerable and underrepresented on campus. We are killing them.”
On Sunday, McLaughlin emailed The Arizona Republic, writing, &#8220;To the extent that I have people engage with me on Twitter using accounts not associated with their names, I try to do that in good faith assuming they are authentic.” But a story published on Monday in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-sick-hoax-coronavirus-death-roiling-arizona-state-university">The Daily Beast</a> quoted her as saying that she &#8220;knew this person.&#8221;
Prior to McLaughlin’s admission on Tuesday, but after the alleged death had been announced, Josh Fessel, a scientist and medical doctor who had interacted with @Sciencing_Bi on Twitter, stated, &#8220;After the last couple of days, I don’t know who or what to believe. I believe I’ve been profoundly deceived for a long time, along with a lot of other people.”
In July 2019, McLaughlin, who was denied tenure at Vanderbilt University in 2017, left the university after an appeal to reverse the denial of tenure was rejected, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/metoostem-founder-out-vanderbilt">Science</a> reported.
Twitter suspended both McLaughlin and @Sciencing_Bi&#8217;s accounts. The @Sciencing_Bi account had been tweeting since at least 2016.
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Vanderbilt Professor And &#8220;Disobedience Award&#8221; Recipient BethAnn McLaughlin

Prof Who Founded Anti-Harassment Group Created Hoax Professor Dying Of COVID

Arizona State University

Coronavirus

COVID-19

Harassment

Hoax

Protests broke out Saturday in the heart of Jerusalem with demonstrators expressing disapproval of Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus and alleged illegal behavior, an escalation of discontent that has some Israelis calling for Netanyahu to step down. 
Demonstrations have now become a weekly occurrence for angry critics of Netanyahu&#8217;s administration, who have been gathering at Netanyahu’s residence along Balfour Street in Jerusalem, with media estimates as high as 13,000 people joining the demonstrations.
The strong opposition to the administration comes partly in response to the strict COVID-19 regulations imposed across the country, which has seen the dramatic rise in the unemployment rate — 3.9% to 21% since the pandemic began. 
“While Israel has pledged billions of dollars worth of aid, it hasn’t all been doled out to those in need, and a plan to give a stipend to all Israelis, even the wealthy, has been panned by the country’s leading economists,&#8221; <a href="https://apnews.com/77fcc7a5eecb63657285d0216abc281b">AP reported in July</a> when the protests first gained traction. &#8220;The first and second round of restrictions has battered the economy and sent unemployment skyrocketing.&#8221;
Local restaurant owners, one group that has been especially vocal about the impact of Israel&#8217;s regulatory burden, began handing out food supplies to hungry protestors on the streets. One restaurant owner told an <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/thousands-gather-in-jerusalem-to-protest-against-netanyahu-govt-635846">Israeli news outlet</a> that they are now in a “battered industry,” and providing food to people “emphasize[s] the importance of maintaining solidarity and being empathetic to others even in hard times like this, just as [they] would expect to be treated by the government.” 
Israel is now witnessing another rise in cases with approximately 1,975 cases per day. But the country has only experienced 430 deaths out of nearly 50,000 COVID-19 cases. 
Others have taken to the streets to fight against the<a href="https://apnews.com/77fcc7a5eecb63657285d0216abc281b"> alleged bribery and fraud claims</a> directed at the prime minister. The corruption accusations were brought to an initial trial in May, but a verdict will not be reached until 2021 for the 5-term leader. Netanyahu maintains his innocence and says the claims against him were drummed up by the ill-intended media.
Demonstrators — declaring messages like “crime minister,” “we were never a democracy,” and “dictator go home” — have frequented the streets of the capital city.  
Despite hopes for a peaceful evening, contentious interactions with the police broke out Saturday night. Law enforcement used water cannons to deter protestors and, according to the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/anti-netanyahu-protests-heat-peak-at-30000-report-637150">Jerusalem Post</a>, made 12 arrests. The incident follows other reported rounds of arrests in previous weeks.
Throughout the past month, observers have posted live footage of the mass turnout and often violent clashes with the police.
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Thousands of Israelis have been gathering tonight in Jerusalem to protest against Israel&#39;s prime minister Netanyahu. <a href="https://t.co/Wa5rGZmmZs">pic.twitter.com/Wa5rGZmmZs</a>
&mdash; Abdalrahim Alfarra (@AbdMfarra) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbdMfarra/status/1289690510513205249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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▶️ Protests in Israel&#39;s capital Jerusalem turned violent Friday, as police made arrests and fired water cannons at demonstrators.
👉 Israeli Police Arrest Dozens of Anti-Netanyahu Protesters<a href="https://t.co/iDP1gya7pH">https://t.co/iDP1gya7pH</a> <a href="https://t.co/QE4ls4soei">pic.twitter.com/QE4ls4soei</a>
&mdash; The Voice of America (@VOANews) <a href="https://twitter.com/VOANews/status/1286689095675187203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Black Flag Movement, one of the largest groups represented at the protests that is committed to Netanyahu’s removal, claims Israel’s leader is “destroying the dreams that the country was built on” because of his preoccupation with the trial. According to the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/anti-netanyahu-protests-heat-peak-at-30000-report-637150">Jerusalem Post</a> on Sunday, the Black Flag Movement said they will not back down until Netanyahu leaves office.
Based upon the rising trajectory of protests from the past month, tension does not appear to be dissipating anytime soon.  
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Netanyahu Protest

Protests Against Israeli PM Netanyahu Escalate Amid Coronavirus Blowback, Corruption Claims

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel

As COVID-19 grows to consume every element of our society, the focus has now landed on the subject of education. When should schools re-open? What protections should be put in place for teachers? What should “the new normal” be for children and their education? While these are all important questions during these unprecedented times, another stunning question is also being discussed: “Should schools re-open at all?”
While portions of the American Left engage in an absurd battle over demands from teachers unions who see this crisis as an opportunity for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nations-largest-teachers-unions-back-safe-schools-plan-that-demands-police-free-schools-an-end-to-private-education">political gain</a>, some on the Right are in danger of failing to fight in favor of reopening schools. The reason for this is the widespread view that alternative educational solutions, such as homeschooling, make the debate over public schools redundant.
The issue here is not whether homeschooling should be permitted — it is obviously the right of any parent to choose the style and substance of their child’s education — or whether homeschooling is effective — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-homeschooling-is-the-smartest-way-to-teach-kids-today-2018-1#students-may-achieve-more-in-the-long-run-6">data</a> suggests that “homeschooled children tend to do better on standardized tests, stick around longer in college, and do better once they&#8217;re enrolled.” The issue is the underlying assumptions required to enable the general conclusion that all parents should homeschool their children as a solution to the COVID-19-induced educational crisis.
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Schools don’t want to open, and they don’t want to educate the children? Okay, problem solved. We can all keep our tax dollars and we’ll home school our kids or work with our neighbors to find local solutions. Thanks. Problem solved.
&mdash; Dan Bongino (@dbongino) <a href="https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1289918336805953547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Such statements certainly don’t come from positions of malice or spite. In fact, they are almost exclusively motivated by an honest desire for children to receive the benefits of a good education. However, while there are certainly legitimate criticisms of the public school system, including curriculum, school choice, and funding, some conservatives are making the mistake of providing arguments rooted in idealism over realism, and make a few critical errors by claiming that homeschooling is an appropriate solution to the broken — and now closed — public school system.
The first is that these arguments assume the existence of the resources homeschooling demands. Children require basic supplies, an established space in which to study, and access to resources such as the internet. The unfortunate reality is that many families are not able to afford the supplies required to homeschool their child. Some <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/internet-access-students-at-home/">9 million</a> children (14% of children between the ages of 3 and 18) don’t have access to the internet at home. Without adequate funds or internet access, it’s unrealistic to expect poorer families or neighborhoods to provide their children with appropriate or equitable levels of education.
The second mistake is the assumption that all adults are either able or willing to homeschool their children. Speaking frankly, the fact that some parents may wish to homeschool their children does not mean that they are either educationally or financially capable of doing so. When it comes to poor neighborhoods, the concept of finding “community solutions” seems somewhat lacking in compassion when everyone in that community is under the similar financial stress.
In addition, considering the <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/jul/29/don-lemon/cnns-don-lemon-says-more-72-percent-african-americ/">familiar statistic</a> that 72% of children in the African-American community are born into single-parent homes, many of those households would be left to decide between providing for their children financially or educationally.
Finally, the brutal fact is that some parents simply do not value education and would not provide their children with any educational support.
When it comes to education, conservatives often approach this area of debate by focusing on successful examples of alternatives. Yes, the benefits provided by private or charter schools are often preferable to public schools. Yes, an involved home support system is optimal for a child’s success. Yes, parents should have the option to choose their child’s school.
However, when it comes to early education, conservatives must also acknowledge that equality of opportunity must be a primary goal. It is the purpose, and duty, of our public school system, as imperfect as it is, to provide those who were born without the benefits of others with the opportunity to better themselves through the meritocracy of education.
Conservatives should reject the attempts to use the closure of public schools as leverage to achieve radical political aims, while also taking the lead when it comes to the fight to re-open schools for those who depend on them. If we abandon public schools by assuming that the alternatives for some are realistic options for all, we abandon future generations to real and inescapable inequity. If we truly believe in equality of opportunity over equality of outcome, then we must also work to provide children with the opportunity that some parents cannot, or unfortunately will not, provide.
More from Ian Haworth: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/haworth-5-ways-orwells-1984-perfectly-describes-the-american-lefts-quest-for-power">5 Ways Orwell’s ‘1984’ Perfectly Describes The American Left’s Quest For Power</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Empty Chairs And Tables In Classroom

HAWORTH: Why Conservatives Should Fight For Reopening Public Schools

Education

Last week, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) tested positive for COVID-19, which prompted intense criticism from leftists over Gohmert’s refusal to wear a mask. Joining the chorus of rebukes is his own daughter, Caroline Gohmert.
In a social media post last Friday, Caroline – a singer who performs as BELLSAINT – not only chastised her father but characterized President Trump as being a man of &#8220;no remorse.&#8221;
“Wearing a mask is a non-partisan issue. The advice of medical experts shouldn’t be politicized,” she wrote. &#8220;My father ignored medical expertise and now he has COVID. This has been a heartbreaking battle bc I love my dad and don’t want him to die.”
“Please please listen to medical experts,” she concluded. “It’s not worth following a president who has no remorse for leading his followers to an early grave.”
Rep. Gohmert&#8217;s office has not publicly responded to his daughter&#8217;s remarks.
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When announcing his COVID-19 diagnosis last week, Gohmert said that he may have actually contracted the virus by wearing a mask because of how he adjusted it. Scientists generally agree that wearing a mask prevents the person from spreading COVID-19 and does not necessarily safeguard an individual from contracting it.
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“I can’t help wonder if that puts some germs in the mask,” he said. “Now that I apparently have it, I will be very, very careful to make sure that I don’t give it to anybody else and we’ll see how it goes.”
Gohmert said that he is asymptomatic and will be self-isolating for 10 days.
Last week, when news broke that former presidential candidate and CEO Herman Cain died due to complications from COVID-19, leftists on social media immediately blamed Trump for his death, adding that Herman Cain refused to wear a mask and attended the president&#8217;s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“I feel bad for Herman Cain and his family. But I don’t feel bad for his selfishness, his mocking of a deadly disease, nor convincing others that it is safe to go maskless. I refuse to have sympathy for those who put my family in danger. Wear a motherf***ing mask,” <a href="https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/1288880784875696134?s=20">tweeted</a> Tony Posnanski. 
“Herman Caín thought Covid was a hoax, scoffed at wearing a mask. Died of Covid. Bill Montgomery, co-founder of pro-Trump, Turning Point USA, scoffed at virus. Died of Covid. Rep. Gohmert refused to wear a mask. Has Covid. See a pattern? Covid doesn’t care about partisanship,” <a href="https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/1288846473690599424?s=20">tweeted</a> Ana Navarro-Cardenas.
Last week, the Netherlands announced it would not be instituting a face mask mandate, arguing that research shows social distancing rules prove more effective at combating the virus than masks.
“Because from a medical perspective there is no proven effectiveness of masks, the Cabinet has decided that there will be no national obligation for wearing non-medical masks,” the Netherlands’ Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark said.
Over in Sweden, where COVID-19 cases continue to drop, the country’s top epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said he sees “no point” in mandating masks in public.
“With numbers diminishing very quickly in Sweden, we see no point in wearing a face mask in Sweden, not even on public transport,” he said, as reported by <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/07/29/no-point-in-wearing-mask-sweden-covid/?fbclid=IwAR07dGNRxNnSrF2nIm-vgC3gw9FYgN0ATtpOA0uzcAHiXCUMpTaBFlbtcjU">Fortune</a>.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swedens-top-epidemiologist-says-we-see-no-point-in-wearing-masks-as-covid-19-cases-drop">Sweden’s Top Epidemiologist Says ‘We See No Point In Wearing Masks’ As COVID-19 Cases Drop</a>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.
</div>

President Trump Delivers Statement On Senate Impeachment Trial&#8217;s Acquittal

Rep. Louie Gohmert’s Daughter Publicly Rebukes Him For Not Wearing A Mask, Says Trump Has ‘No Remorse’

Building off suggestions made Monday, President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that he is considering an executive order that would halt evictions nationally and suspend the payroll tax until the House and Senate can agree on a more long-term coronavirus relief package, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trumps-weighs-executive-action-to-suspend-evictions-payroll-tax">according to Fox News</a>.
On Monday, the White House hinted that the president was toying with the option of moving forward on his own, independent &#8220;coronavirus relief&#8221; package, though initially, the administration was mum on details. Reportedly, members of the Trump administration were analyzing a number of possible scenarios and determining what the president could legally provide or extend without the help of federal legislators.
Although the White House has been focused on pressing Republicans to agree to an extension of federal supplemental unemployment benefits, totally around $600 per week for most unemployed Americans, the president is not legally able to extend those benefits on his own, so he&#8217;s focusing, it seems, on areas where an executive order could have an immediate impact.
“A lot of people are going to be evicted, but I’m going to stop it because I’ll do it myself if I have to,” Trump said during a press conference. “I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders, and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.”
“They’re thrown out viciously,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;It&#8217;s not their fault.&#8221;
&#8220;Trump noted that individuals who are evicted often go to homeless shelters where, he said, they could be at higher risk of contracting COVID-19,&#8221; Fox said.
That would be a unilateral extension of a provision in the CARES Act, passed in April before most coronavirus-related lockdowns were in place &#8212; a program that, Fox notes, is currently assisting 23 million renters.
The White House has also been focused on pressing Republicans to include a temporary suspension of the payroll tax in any concrete coronavirus relief plans, even if that suspension has a significant price tag.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), declined to include the suspension on the grounds that it was a non-starter with Democrats, who have already passed their own version of a relief package, a $3 trillion bill that includes, instead, a suspension of the &#8220;SALT&#8221; cap, which allows high-income earners, largely in &#8220;blue&#8221; states, to deduct larger amounts of state and local taxes from their federal income tax.
President Trump claimed to reporters that he is able to use an executive order to suspend the payroll tax.
“I can do that also through executive order, so we’ll be talking about that,” Trump said.
The White House negotiations team, assisting Senate Republicans in their talks with House and Senate Democrats told reporters Monday that the feel confident a deal is closer than it was over the weekend, and that &#8220;progress&#8221; has been made on a final relief package.
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senate

White House Considering Executive Order Suspending Evictions, Payroll Tax As Congress Stalls On Coronavirus Relief

Donald Trump

Mitch McConnell

Recent published studies from England, Spain, and Sweden suggest the infeasibility of herd immunity to Covid-19 in the short term. The rapid drop in antibody levels following infection demonstrated in these studies indicates that coronavirus immunity may not be long-lasting, and that the concept of herd immunity by itself is not achievable without additional support in the form of regular vaccinations or additional treatments to improve immune response.
The argument that natural herd immunity will resolve the coronavirus pandemic relies on the assumptions that infection rates are high and that antibodies confer long-term immunity. European studies suggest the opposite. Infection rates are lower than expected where the virus is thought to be endemic, and antibodies decline rapidly, suggesting that natural herd immunity is an unlikely outcome.
In an interview with the author, Todd Ellerin, Director of Infectious Diseases at South Shore Health,<a href="applewebdata://B2080A50-8280-4E8F-88E3-DEDCBC740265#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> stated that “the flattening of the curve is overwhelmingly from behavioral actions and not herd immunity. Physical distancing and mask wearing are the two most important things that have flattened the curve and, to some degree, but not nearly where we need to be, the testing, isolation, and tracing. Expert epidemiologists say that roughly 7% of the U.S. has been infected. It is not clear that we can even get herd immunity to Covid-19. With Influenza [seasonal flu], we don’t achieve herd immunity; tens of millions of people still get it. The data is making us concerned that this is going to fall in line with the other common coronaviruses, where generally we think you have immunity for maybe six to twelve months, but then you lose it and can get reinfected. That’s still a hypothesis, and we need time to understand if we are going to be seeing more reinfections. The key to this is some people estimate that this will be around for up to five years, and the seasonality is unclear.”
A <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429v1">study from King’s College</a> found that Covid antibodies decrease at a constant and rapid rate, regardless of infection intensity; this suggests that, even if a sufficient antibody level is achieved through vaccination, the effectiveness will diminish over time. The study found that the level of antibody response is correlated to the severity of infection, with antibody levels peaking after an average of 23 days regardless of severity. Most significantly, the mild or asymptomatic cases had no detectable antibodies after two months. These findings imply that, even if an effective Covid-19 vaccine is produced, the vaccine may have to be administered yearly or at a yet undetermined interval to maintain immunity.
Recent data from <a href="https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2020/juni/forsta-resultaten-om-antikroppar-efter-genomgangen-covid-19-hos-blodgivare/">Sweden</a> and <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31483-5/fulltext">Spain</a> support these statements. In Spain, approximately 5% of the population tested positive for the virus in a study of 60,000 randomly selected individuals, despite Spain being a Covid hotspot. In Sweden, where a strategy of herd immunity through community spread is being attempted, only 6.3% of individuals tested positive for coronavirus.
In a recent opinion piece in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/opinion/coronavirus-antibodies-immunity.html">The New York Times</a>, Dr. Akiko Iwasaki and Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov, both professors of immunobiology at Yale, argue that dropping levels of Covid antibodies after acute infection may not indicate a decreasing level of immunity. These doctors suggest that focusing primarily on antibody levels, as these studies do, is misguided.
Focusing instead on T cells and B cells, which provide long-term protection, these doctors point out that natural infection with some viruses does not provide the same level of robust immunity as does a vaccine. This suggests that, even if coronavirus infection does not confer sufficient long-term immunity, a vaccine may be able to. Thus, Drs. Iwasaki and Medzhitov argue that, while natural herd immunity may not itself be achievable, a vaccine may lead to widespread long-term immunity.
Hemanth Nair, a former CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer and a former Epidemiologist at the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said the following in an interview with the author:
“They’ve done <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7118348/">studies</a> with the Diamond Princess population, a closed population because they were all on a cruise ship, and the death rate there was around 1%. Without a vaccine, if we all just went out, without any type of non-pharmaceutical intervention, we could expect at least that proportion of people dying from coronavirus.”
The mortality rate has not been reduced in the age group sampled in the Diamond Princess study. Currently, the best CDC estimate of the infection mortality rate, which includes all age groups and asymptomatic cases, is 0.65%.
According to the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-coronavirus/art-20486808">Mayo Clinic</a> and <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/from-our-experts/early-herd-immunity-against-covid-19-a-dangerous-misconception">Johns Hopkins University</a>, herd immunity from Covid-19 is likely to require that 70% of the population develop significant antibodies. The data coming out of Spain and Sweden suggest that a population exposed to Covid-19 through a reopening strategy or natural outbreak is unlikely to achieve even close to the level of infection required for herd immunity to develop. Thus, relying on natural herd immunity alone is unlikely to be an effective strategy for eradicating Covid-19.
<a href="applewebdata://B2080A50-8280-4E8F-88E3-DEDCBC740265#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Todd Ellerin has appeared as an ABC medical contributor, is an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Medical Technical specialist for Ebola and Sars as well as coronavirus.
Samuel Marks is a full-time student at Swarthmore College, where he is a double major in Economics and History, with a focus on American popular culture. He is co-president of Swarthmore’s Conservative Society and actively volunteers for political campaigns. He has an article pending publication in Fretboard Journal Magazine and plays jazz professionally in the Boston area, where he currently resides.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swedens-top-epidemiologist-says-we-see-no-point-in-wearing-masks-as-covid-19-cases-drop">Sweden’s Top Epidemiologist Says ‘We See No Point In Wearing Masks’ As COVID-19 Cases Drop</a>
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Virus around blood cells

Is Herd Immunity An Effective Strategy? Here’s What The Latest Studies Found.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) suggested late last week that predominately Republican states are getting what&#8217;s coming to them in regards to COVID-19 because he claims that those states ignored science and medical advice regarding measures like social distancing and wearing masks. So far, the virus has killed over 150,000 Americans.
Moulton, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for president during this current election cycle, made the remarks during an online conversation with Amy McGrath, a Democrat who is running against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.
&#8220;We certainly have this perception in the Northeast that all the red states are, you know, they kind of, they are getting what was coming to them because they refused to follow these mandates and they&#8217;re playing politics with this rather than listening to the science,&#8221; Moulton said Monday.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/31/politics/seth-moulton-red-states-playing-politics-covid/index.html">noted</a> that a spokesperson for McConnell tweeted out the video and called out McGrath for her response to Moulton&#8217;s comments where she &#8220;smiles and nods.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is the latest liberal philosophy in regards to coronavirus: &quot;Red states are, you know, they kind of — they’re getting what was coming to them&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Zmjb0V4FXi">pic.twitter.com/Zmjb0V4FXi</a>
&mdash; America First (@AmericaFirstPAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericaFirstPAC/status/1289313900886859778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Moulton later tweeted out a link to a news article about his comments and <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmoulton/status/1289213339063599104">wrote</a>, &#8220;I don’t believe that personally, but it is true that some people in blue states have that perception. If it gets under some people’s skin enough that they start wearing masks, it will literally save lives.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/07/30/seth-moulton-suggests-red-states-are-getting-whats-coming-to-them-with-coronavirus/">article</a> from the Boston Herald that Moulton linked to added that Moulton continued his remarks in the discussion with McGrath by saying, “I also remember saying when people asked me, ‘Hey, is McConnell in the Senate ever going to support another relief package?’ My answer was, ‘I think when they go home to their districts, it’s going to be pretty hard for them to ignore what’s going on.’ But when I said that I didn’t expect them to be facing the surge in cases that we’re seeing today.”
The newspaper included the following response from a spokesperson for Moulton:
<blockquote>While Mitch McConnell’s constituents are trying to figure out how they’re going to pay their rent and feed their kids because he’s letting their unemployment benefits expire, his staff is clipping videos in an attempt to troll his opponent on Twitter,. This is a great example of why we need Amy McGrath in the Senate. McConnell and his office would do well to spend more time working to pass the relief legislation Americans so desperately need, and less time taking cheap shots on Twitter.</blockquote>
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/1289930383774146561">responded</a> to Moulton&#8217;s remarks by writing on Twitter, &#8220;A Democratic congressman from our sister state of Massachusetts said that Louisianians and other Southerners are &#8216;getting what was coming to them&#8217; from COVID-19. Why would anyone want someone else to contract the virus?&#8221;
Trump Campaign Rapid Response Director Andrew Clark <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewHClark/status/1289284947434340352">responded</a> by noting on Twitter, &#8220;The Northeast still leads the United States in coronavirus deaths. More people have died in Massachusetts than in Florida. Stop holding up the Northeast as a beacon of coronavirus virtue. It&#8217;s not.&#8221;
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Acting Office Of Management And Budget Director Russell Vought Testifies On 2020 Budget

Democrat Seth Moulton: Red States ‘Are Getting What Was Coming To Them’ With Coronavirus

As Sweden&#8217;s COVID-19 cases continue to drop, the country&#8217;s top epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said he sees &#8220;no point&#8221; to mandating masks in public.
&#8220;With numbers diminishing very quickly in Sweden, we see no point in wearing a face mask in Sweden, not even on public transport,&#8221; he said, as reported by <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/07/29/no-point-in-wearing-mask-sweden-covid/?fbclid=IwAR07dGNRxNnSrF2nIm-vgC3gw9FYgN0ATtpOA0uzcAHiXCUMpTaBFlbtcjU">Fortune</a>.
According to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/sweden-covid-19-death-rate-lower-spain-italy-uk-despite-never-having-lockdown-1522306">Newsweek</a>, Sweden&#8217;s death rate from COVID-19 is now lower than Italy&#8217;s, the U.K.&#8217;s, and Spain&#8217;s despite having never implemented a full-scale lockdown:
<blockquote>As of Sunday, the latest death rate in Sweden (deaths per 100,000 people) was reported to be 56.40. The figure is lower than that reported in the U.K. (69.60), Spain (60.88) and Italy (58.16), according to the latest report Sunday by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.K. currently has the world&#8217;s fourth highest death toll, while Spain and Italy (which have the sixth highest and eighth highest death tolls, respectively) were formerly Europe&#8217;s two countries worst hit by the outbreak.
Sweden&#8217;s latest case-fatality ratio (portion of deaths compared to total cases) was reported to be 7.1 percent. The figure is more than half the percentage reported in the U.K. (15.1 percent), half that of Italy and Belgium (each reporting 14.2 percent) and nearly half that of France (13.4 percent), according to Johns Hopkins University.</blockquote>
In the past 14 days, new infections per 100,000 people in Sweden have dropped 46%. Conversely, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands have seen spikes between 58% and 206% in cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period. Last Tuesday, Sweden reported no new deaths, bringing the toll to 5,702.
“That Sweden has come down to these levels is very promising,” Anders Tegnell told reporters in Stockholm on Tuesday.
&#8220;The curves are going down and the curves for the seriously ill are beginning to approach zero,” Tegnell added.
However, despite Tegnell&#8217;s optimism, he did find it &#8220;worrying&#8221; that other countries are seeing a second spike after supposedly bringing the virus under control.
“The positive trend is reversing, with an increase in the number of cases in Spain, Romania and Belgium, among others,” he said.
Just last week, the Netherlands announced it would not be instituting a face mask mandate, arguing that research shows social distancing rules prove more effective at combating the virus than masks.
“Because from a medical perspective there is no proven effectiveness of masks, the Cabinet has decided that there will be no national obligation for wearing non-medical masks,&#8221; The Netherlands’ Minister for Medical Care Tamara van Ark said.
<div class="Raw-slyvem-0 kRDbto">
Though RIVM chief Jaap van Dissel acknowledged studies indicating that masks may be useful in slowing the spread of COVID-19, he argued that incorrectly worn masks coupled with weak social distancing guidelines could help the virus spread.
</div>
<div class="Raw-slyvem-0 kRDbto">
“So we think that if you’re going to use masks (in a public setting) … then you must give good training for it,” he said.
Citizens in the Netherlands are only required to wear masks in airports and when taking public transportation.
According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0714-americans-to-wear-masks.html">CDC</a>, cloth masks are an effective shield against the spread of COVID-19:
<blockquote>This review included two case studies out today, one from JAMA, showing that adherence to universal masking policies reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a Boston hospital system, and one from CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), showing that wearing a mask prevented the spread of infection from two hair stylists to their customers in Missouri.
Additional data in today’s MMWR showed that immediately after the White House Coronavirus Task Force and CDC advised Americans to wear cloth face coverings when leaving home, the proportion of U.S. adults who chose to do so increased, with 3 in 4 reporting they had adopted the recommendation in a national internet survey.</blockquote>
In the early stages of the pandemic here in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, argued against wearing masks before reversing that position several weeks later. Fauci, however, maintains that he was simply following CDC guidelines to preserve PPE.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dutch-government-will-not-mandate-masks-says-no-proven-effectiveness">Dutch Government Will Not Mandate Masks, Says ‘No Proven Effectiveness’</a>
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</div>

SWEDEN-HEALTH-VIRUS

Sweden’s Top Epidemiologist Says ‘We See No Point In Wearing Masks’ As COVID-19 Cases Drop

Sweden

Governments’ response to the coronavirus pandemic is driving a resurgence of diseases that may be deadlier than COVID-19, according to health experts.
Diagnosed cases of tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria have plummeted across dozens of countries. Clinics, equipment, and medicine used to diagnose and treat patients for these diseases have been converted en masse to fight the coronavirus pandemic, leaving health officials grappling with what they fear may be a massive resurgence in disease, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/health/coronavirus-tuberculosis-aids-malaria.html">The New York Times</a>.
Government shutdowns have also disrupted supply lines, making it difficult, especially for impoverished countries, to get access to medicine to treat malaria and HIV. Consequently, patients are dangerously stretching the limited amount of medicine they have left, or have stopped taking medication altogether, leaving themselves and others at risk.
India records over a quarter of the world’s tuberculosis cases. Diagnoses of the disease have dropped 75% since the start of the pandemic, threatening even greater spread of the disease as people are left untreated. Similar trends are being replicated in other countries such as China and Brazil.
“The more you leave undiagnosed and untreated, the more you will have next year and the year after,” Dr. Lucica Ditiu told NYT. Ditiu leads a coalition of 1,700 groups dedicated to fighting the disease worldwide called the Stop TB Partnership. According to the World Health Organization, 121 countries have reported a significant drop in patients coming in for treatment of tuberculosis.
“This is really difficult to digest,” Ditiu said. “It took a lot of work to arrive where we are. We were not at the peak of the mountain, but we were away from the base. But then an avalanche came and pushed us back to the bottom.”
Dr. Giorgio Franyuti, who heads the advocacy group Medical Impact, has seen a similar trend in Mexico. Sick people with tuberculosis are coming into hospitals with flu-like symptoms, being diagnosed with COVID-19, and being sent home only to return months later with serious health problems related to their misdiagnosis.
“Nobody is testing for TB at any facility,” Franyuti said. “The mind of clinicians in Mexico, as well as decision makers, is stuck with Covid-19.”
“TB is the biggest monster of them all. If we’re talking about deaths and pandemics, 10 million cases a year,” Franyuti continued. The current global <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/">death toll</a> from the coronavirus is nearing 700,000, though that number may vary widely do to misreporting in countries such as Iran and China, both of which the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mike-pompeo-accuses-china-and-iran-of-coronavirus-cover-up">U.S. State Department</a> has said inaccurately report their data.
The resurgence in deadly diseases follows reports that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-sparks-global-wave-vaccine-preventable-disease-outbreaks">vaccinations</a> for deadly diseases are plummeting in the United States and around the world as parents elect not to get their children vaccinated for diseases such as diphtheria, cholera, and measles. Parents are afraid that a trip to a hospital or clinic to get necessary vaccinations would leave them exposed to the coronavirus. Now, diseases long thought to be handled are reappearing at alarming rates.
“The last thing we want as the collateral damage of Covid-19 are outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, which we will almost certainly see if there continues to be a drop in vaccine uptake,” Dr. Sean T. O’Leary, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, said in April.
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Tuberculosis vaccine

Health Experts Warn That Government Shutdowns Are Bringing Back ‘The Biggest Monster Of Them All’: Tuberculosis

Government Shutdown

The U.S. government should order a strict nationwide lockdown for a month or longer in order to stem the spread of COVID-19 and spur the flagging economy, a top Federal Reserve official said on Sunday.
“That&#8217;s the only way we&#8217;re really going to have a real robust economic recovery,&#8221; Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.&#8221; &#8220;Otherwise, we&#8217;re going to have flare-ups, lockdowns and a very halting recovery with many more job losses and many more bankruptcies for an extended period of time unfortunately,” he said.
While shutting down would adversely affect the economy, Kashkari said after the relatively brief lockdown, things might get better faster.
“I mean if we were to lock down really hard, I know I hate to even suggest it, people will be frustrated by it, but if we were to lock down hard for a month or six weeks, we could get the case count down so that our testing and our contact tracing was actually enough to control it the way that it&#8217;s happening in the Northeast right now,” Kashkari said. “They had a rocky start, but they&#8217;re doing a pretty good job right now.”
He also said that without a full lockdown, the virus will continue to spread for the “the next year or two,” which would cause more businesses to shut down.
“We&#8217;re going to see many, many more business bankruptcies, small businesses, big businesses, and that&#8217;s going to take a lot of time to recover from to rebuild those businesses and then to bring workers back in and re-engage them in the workforce. That&#8217;s going to be a much slower recovery for all of us,” Kashkari said.
His remarks came as Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said Sunday that SARS-CoV2, which causes COVID-19, is more widespread than when it first began sweeping across the nation.
&#8220;What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It&#8217;s into the rural as equal urban areas,&#8221; Birx said. &#8220;To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus,&#8221; Birx said. &#8220;If you&#8217;re in multi-generational households, and there&#8217;s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you&#8217;re positive if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities.&#8221;
The financial official also said that federal lawmakers should do more to help businesses, even if it means incurring more debt.
“Right now, the U.S. can fund itself at very, very low rates. Congress should use this opportunity to support the American people and the American economy. I&#8217;m not worried about it,” he said. “If we get the economy growing, we will be able to pay off the debt.”
“There&#8217;s just so many fewer jobs than there are workers available,” he said. “At some point, it&#8217;ll be an issue. When we get the unemployment rate eventually back down to 5 percent, and we want to get it back down to 4 percent or 3 1/2, where it was before, yes, that disincentive to work becomes material. But right now, it&#8217;s simply not a factor in the macro-economy that we have in the U.S. because we have so many millions of Americans out of work.&#8221;
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Store owner putting up a closed sign in the window

Federal Official Says Nationwide Lockdown Needed To Spur ‘Robust Economic Recovery’

Dr. Anthony Fauci&#8217;s newfound fame has been a &#8220;mixed-bag&#8221; that has attracted &#8220;unwanted attention,&#8221; according to his wife, Dr. Christine Grady, a bioethicist who is currently the chief of the National Institutes of Health Bioethics Department.
Speaking with <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a32715031/fauci-christine-grady-nih-covid/?fbclid=IwAR3U9HzLaQRyCIZitQI0Cq4C5LMGb-Kjwpv-ZovM1Sg24_IWAKFPFRQLwXQ">ELLE</a> back in June, Grady said that while she appreciates the American public&#8217;s idolization of her husband, it has its share of trouble.
“I mean, I think it’s great that he’s able to communicate with people in ways that make things clearer and that make people feel supported and calmer,&#8221; she told ELLE. &#8220;He’s working an unbelievable amount of hours and not taking many breaks for himself. I do think it’s resulted in what I would call unwanted attention on me and my children. That’s the unfortunate side.”
ELLE highlighted the media&#8217;s various efforts to transform Fauci into a rockstar for the ages:
<blockquote>It didn&#8217;t take long for the American public to lionize the soft-spoken infectious disease expert. His bespectacled face was meme-ified and printed on <a class="body-link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Fauci-Keep-Hands-White/dp/B086R52SYG?tag=elle-soc-lift-20&amp;ascsubtag=[artid|10051.a.32715031[src|[ch|0979c1c30d36201c1360b55160d46ed2[lt|" target="_blank" rel="noopener noskim noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Fauci-Keep-Hands-White/dp/B086R52SYG" data-affiliate="true">coffee mugs</a>, <a class="body-link" href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74968X1525074&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Flisting%2F795288949%2Ffunny-fauci-face-mask-dr-fauci-face-mask%3Futm_custom1%3DVox.com%26source%3Daw%26utm_source%3Daffiliate_window%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate%26utm_campaign%3Dus_location_buyer%26utm_term%3D3657%26utm_content%3D78888%26awc%3D6220_1591747153_b3663c31fb2a75708acf43f2516cd9b0&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elle.com%2Fculture%2Fcareer-politics%2Fa32715031%2Ffauci-christine-grady-nih-covid%2F%3Fpre%3Dculture%252Fcareer-politics%252F%26prefix%3Da%26id%3D32715031%26del%3D%26variantId%3D%26post%3D%252Ffauci-christine-grady-nih-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.etsy.com/listing/795288949/funny-fauci-face-mask-dr-fauci-face-mask?utm_custom1=Vox.com&amp;source=aw&amp;utm_source=affiliate_window&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=us_location_buyer&amp;utm_term=3657&amp;utm_content=78888&amp;awc=6220_1591747153_b3663c31fb2a75708acf43f2516cd9b0" data-affiliate="true">masks</a>, and <a class="body-link" href="https://www.illuminidol.com/products/dr-anthony-fauci" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.illuminidol.com/products/dr-anthony-fauci">prayer candles</a>. He inspired <a class="body-link" href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xed4/as-coronavirus-spreads-so-does-thirst-for-dr-anthony-fauci" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/g5xed4/as-coronavirus-spreads-so-does-thirst-for-dr-anthony-fauci">love songs</a> and appeared on late-night <a class="body-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/television/late-night-anthony-fauci-coronavirus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/arts/television/late-night-anthony-fauci-coronavirus.html">talk shows</a>. <a class="body-link" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/20/how-anthony-fauci-became-americas-doctor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/20/how-anthony-fauci-became-americas-doctor">The New Yorker</a> dubbed him “America’s Doctor,” and Brad Pitt played him on SNL.</blockquote>
26,000 people also signed a <a class="body-link" href="https://www.change.org/p/people-magazine-make-dr-anthony-fauci-people-magazine-s-sexiest-man-alive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://www.change.org/p/people-magazine-make-dr-anthony-fauci-people-magazine-s-sexiest-man-alive">petition</a> for People magazine to select Fauci for this year&#8217;s &#8220;Sexiest Man Alive.&#8221; He has also become a <a class="body-link" href="https://store.bobbleheadhall.com/products/drfauci" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-vars-ga-outbound-link="https://store.bobbleheadhall.com/products/drfauci">best-selling bobblehead</a>. Ultimately, Grady yearns for the days of normalcy.
“There was no way to know that Tony would get as much attention as he’s gotten from the beginning,&#8221; she says. &#8220;We do talk and strategize about it&#8230; but it&#8217;s not something, really, you can do anything about.&#8221;
Grady&#8217;s current job in the COVID-19 crisis is to oversee the nation&#8217;s ethical response to the pandemic.
Speaking with <a href="https://1010wins.radio.com/articles/fauci-on-blowing-the-first-pitch-getting-death-threats">1010Wins</a> after his pitch at the Washington Nationals game, Fauci expounded a bit on the darker side of his newfound fame, including death threats.
&#8220;There is a big divisiveness in the country about politicizing this response to the COVID outbreak, where people feel that some of the public health measures that I’ve been advocating, which are purely for the purpose of preserving the health and safety of the American people, are interfering with their lives,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They don’t want to be told what to do and they get very hostile about it, and it’s just extraordinary. I was quite surprised and taken aback by the amount of threats, not only against me, but my family, my wife and my daughters.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s death threats to me, and inappropriate harassing of my wife and my children,&#8221; he added. &#8220;They’re getting, they know what their phone numbers (are),  they know where they work, because everything seems to be public, and they harass them. It’s very unsettling.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tucker-carlson-rips-fauci-as-a-fraud">WATCH: Tucker Carlson Rips Fauci As ‘A Fraud’</a>
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Anthony Fauci

Fauci’s Wife: His Fame Is A ‘Mixed-Bag,’ Attracts ‘Unwanted Attention’

White House Coronavirus Taskforce Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told CNN on Sunday that the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has hit a new phase as it is more widespread now, and that it is essentially hitting every place in the country.
&#8220;So, are we in a new phase of the pandemic?&#8221; CNN’s Dana Bash asked Birx. &#8220;And if so, what are you going to do to change course?&#8221;
&#8220;I think those are two very critical questions because we are in a new phase,&#8221; Birx responded. &#8220;And that’s why I really wanted to make it clear to the American people.&#8221;
Birx said that responses &#8220;have to be dramatically tailored&#8221; to the specific areas where the outbreaks are occurring, and that mitigation procedures are having an impact at the state and local levels.
&#8220;But I want to be very clear. What we’re seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It&#8217;s into the rural as equal urban areas,&#8221; Birx said. &#8220;And to everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus. And that’s why we keep saying, no matter where you live in America, you need to wear a mask and socially distance, do the personal hygiene pieces.&#8221;
&#8220;But, more importantly, if you&#8217;re in multigenerational households, and there&#8217;s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you&#8217;re positive, if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities,&#8221; Birx concluded. &#8220;This epidemic right now is different, and it&#8217;s wide – it&#8217;s more widespread. And it&#8217;s both rural and urban.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Dr. Deborah Birx says, &quot;we are in a new phase&quot; of the coronavirus pandemic adding, &quot;This epidemic right now is different and it&#39;s &#8230; more widespread and it&#39;s both rural and urban&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNNSOTU?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CNNSOTU</a> <a href="https://t.co/w09X9GrhL0">pic.twitter.com/w09X9GrhL0</a>
&mdash; CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1289913888151019520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2008/02/sotu.01.html">PROVIDED</a> VIA CNN:
<blockquote>BASH: But it&#8217;s clearly not working. I mean, we’ve been talking about outbreaks across the Sunbelt. You&#8217;re warning now about a resurgence in states across the Midwest. In recent days, you have named 20 – we’re putting them on the screen – 20 of the 50 states as places you&#8217;re watching.
So, are we in a new phase of the pandemic? And, if so, what are you going to do to change course?
BIRX: I think those are two very critical questions, because we are in a new phase. And that’s why I really wanted to make it clear to the American people.
It&#8217;s why we started putting out governor reports directly to the health officials and the governors in every single state, because we could see that each thing had to be tailored. So, each state has a tailored set of recommendations based on what we are seeing at the community level, what we are seeing relevant to the hospitals.
And each of these responses have to be dramatically tailored. We are beginning to see an impact from the mitigation procedures that many of the state and local officials have put into place.
But I want to be very clear. What we’re seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It&#8217;s into the rural as equal urban areas.
And to everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus. And that’s why we keep saying, no matter where you live in America, you need to wear a mask and socially distance, do the personal hygiene pieces.
But, more importantly, if you&#8217;re in multigenerational households, and there&#8217;s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you&#8217;re positive, if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities.
This epidemic right now is different, and it&#8217;s wide – it&#8217;s more widespread, and it&#8217;s both rural and urban.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Dr. Deborah Birx

Dr. Birx Issues New Warning As Coronavirus Pandemic Enters ‘A New Phase’

Actress Lena Dunham (&#8220;Girls&#8221;) recalled her harrowing battle with COVID-19 in a dramatic, sometimes elegiac <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUUmlrjNlI/?utm_source=ig_embed">Instagram post</a> on Saturday.
According to Dunham, she contracted COVID-19 in mid-March and decided to share her experience to combat the &#8220;carelessness with which so many in the United States are treating social distancing.&#8221;
&#8220;&#8230; seeing the carelessness with which so many in the United States are treating social distancing, people jogging without masks and parties on Instagram, I feel compelled to be honest about the impact this illness has had on me, in the hopes that personal stories allow us to see the humanity in what can feel like abstract situations,&#8221; she began.
&#8220;The fact is, the coronavirus kills people. We know that. But it will also alter the bodies and lived experiences of so many who are infected, in ways they could never have predicted,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;In some odd sense, I feel blessed to have entered this experience as a &#8216;sick&#8217; person; otherwise I don&#8217;t know how I would have tolerated crossing that threshold from well to unwell. Lots of people are doing it gracefully right now. But worse than that, they&#8217;re doing it alone.&#8221;
Dunham continued her post by describing her struggle with COVID-19, which included the typical symptoms (fever, loss of taste and smell, fatigue) and a few other distinct varients, such as her inability to &#8220;tolerate loud noises,&#8221; “random red rashes,&#8221; and a crushing headache between her eyes. She likened this relentless pain to &#8220;a complex machine that had been unplugged and then had my wires rerouted into the wrong inputs.&#8221; Her hacking cough, she also said, was &#8220;like a metronome keeping time.&#8221;
&#8220;This went on for 21 days, days that blended into each other like a rave gone wrong. I was lucky enough to have a doctor who could offer me regular guidance on how to care for myself and I never had to be hospitalized,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This kind of hands-on attention is a privilege that is far too unusual in our broken healthcare system. I self-isolated with my pulse oximeter, monitoring my level. &#8230; After a month, I tested negative for COVID-19 and was able to spend time around my isolation pod again. I couldn&#8217;t believe how intense the loneliness had been, in addition to the illness.&#8221;
Despite the virus having been defeated, Dunham still experienced severe after-effects, such as &#8220;swollen hands and feet, an unceasing migraine and fatigue that limited my every move.&#8221;
&#8220;The doctor determined I was suffering from clinical adrenal insufficiency – my pituitary gland had almost entirely ceased to function – as well as a &#8216;status migrainosis,'&#8221; she said. &#8220;My arthritis flared and required an immune-modulator drug that is hard on my body. And there are weirder symptoms that I&#8217;ll keep to myself.&#8221;
Dunham asserted that she did not experience these symptoms prior to COVID-19 and does not know why her body responded so negatively. Though she gave no indication that it contributed to her suffering, Dunham did <a href="https://www.today.com/health/what-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-lena-dunham-reveals-diagnosis-t166421">reveal in 2019</a> that she suffers from Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, the symptoms of which include &#8220;joint pain&#8221; and &#8220;slow and poor wound healing.&#8221;
From &#8220;Today&#8221;:
<blockquote>EDS weakens the body’s connective tissues — which normally provide strength and flexibility — either because the collagen isn’t as strong as it should be or there’s not enough of it in the skin, muscles, skeleton and blood vessels.
EDS and can range from loose joints to life-threatening complications, such as bleeding and the possibility of organ and vessel rupture. The <a href="https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ehlers-Danlos Society</a> listed these possible warning signs:
</blockquote>
<ul class="">
<li>
<blockquote>loose, overly flexible or unstable joints</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>joint pain</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>soft, stretchy, fragile skin that tears or <a class=" vilynx_listened" href="https://www.today.com/health/bruising-easily-common-causes-when-see-doctor-t123754" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bruises easily</a></blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>slow and poor wound healing</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>severe scarring</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>debilitating musculoskeletal pain</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>poor muscle tone</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
Lena Dunham concluded her post by cautioning people to practice social distancing and take guidelines seriously, warning that COVID-19 is a health crisis the likes of which our nation has never faced before.
&#8220;This is the biggest deal in our country, and in the world right now,&#8221; she concluded. &#8220;When you take the appropriate measures to protect yourself and your neighbors, you save them a world of pain. You save them a journey that nobody deserves to take, with a million outcomes we don&#8217;t yet understand, and a million people with varying resources and varying levels of support who are not ready for this tidal wave to take them. It is critical we are all sensible and compassionate at this time&#8230;because, there is truly no other choice.&#8221;
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</a> 
 <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUUmlrjNlI/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">My Covid Story</a>
<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lenadunham/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Lena Dunham</a> (@lenadunham) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-07-31T19:04:30+00:00">Jul 31, 2020 at 12:04pm PDT</time>
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-contracting-covid-19-bryan-cranston-urges-people-to-keep-wearing-the-damn-mask">After Contracting COVID-19, Bryan Cranston Urges People To ‘Keep Wearing The Damn Mask’</a>
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&#8220;Betrayal&#8221; Broadway Opening Night

Lena Dunham Recalls Dramatic Battle With COVID-19: ‘It Felt Like I Was A Complex Machine That Had Been Unplugged’

Lena Dunham

Although coverage of anti-lockdown protests has focused largely on groups in the United States, a demonstration against masking and other anti-coronavirus efforts drew tens of thousands to the streets of Berlin this weekend, even as German officials say a new domestic coronavirus spike may be underway.
Around 20,000 people joined the attended the Berlin protest Saturday, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53622797">according to the BBC.</a> Organizers had billed the event as a &#8220;day of freedom&#8221; from Germany&#8217;s restrictive lockdown measures, which include a mandatory masking order.
Protesters, the outlet noted, carried signs that read, &#8220;Corona, false alarm&#8221; and &#8220;We are being forced to wear a muzzle,&#8221; and chanted that &#8220;masks make us slaves.&#8221; A seemingly surprised BBC said that &#8220;some participants were from the far-right and some were conspiracy theorists who do not believe Covid-19 exists, but others were ordinary people who simply object to the government&#8217;s approach to the pandemic.&#8221;
&#8220;&#8216;We are the second wave,&#8217; shouted the crowd, a mixture of hard left and right and conspiracy theorists as they converged on the Brandenburg Gate, demanding &#8216;resistance&#8217; and dubbing the pandemic &#8216;the biggest conspiracy theory,'&#8221; <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/berlin-protest-over-virus-restrictions-draws-thousands-140750641.html">AFP added</a>.
Few of the marchers wore masks or maintained strict social distancing in accordance with Germany&#8217;s anti-coronavirus restrictions. Police broke up the protest after receiving complaints about the potential spread of the virus.
Europe is reportedly now experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases and Germany has not been left out of the uptick. On Friday, the German government reported around 900 new cases of COVID-19 and 7 new deaths. That&#8217;s substantial, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-cases-rise-in-europe-as-youth-hit-beach-and-bars-11596364200">according to the Wall Street Journal</a>, though not as substantial as rises in other countries, like Spain, where vacationers are driving a shocking resurgence.
&#8220;Spain’s national health ministry reported 2,255 new cases on Friday, following its report of 2,615 new cases on Thursday,&#8221; <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-cases-surge-in-spain-threatening-tourism-recovery-11595882014">the WSJ said last week</a>. &#8220;On Monday, Spain said new cases swelled to 6,361 between midday Friday and the same time Monday.&#8221;
The virus is affecting more younger individuals, as in the United States, the WSJ notes, and taking less of a deadly toll.
&#8220;Between July 20 and July 25, the incidence rate of Covid-19 among French people between the ages of 20 and 29 was 19.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. That compares with 9.7 per 100,000 inhabitants for the French population as a whole, according to health authorities,&#8221; the WSJ said Sunday. &#8220;In Italy, the median age of new infections over the past month has dropped to around 40, compared with over 60 during the lockdown in April. And data from Germany’s center for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute, shows a small increase in young people among those testing positive.&#8221;
Authorities worry the toll will rise even higher as Europeans embark on mid-summer vacations. In places like Spain, where the beaches attract a younger, party-goer crowd, lockdown measures are now back in place, many bars are closed, and beach getaways are off-limits.
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Coronavirus Germany

Germans Turn Out By The Thousands For Anti-Lockdown Protests In Berlin

Europe

Germany

Dr. Deborah Birx is a highly respected physician and diplomat who began serving as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator after she was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014. Birx was responsible for the President&#8217;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program in 65 countries that supports HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs.
But now she serves for President Trump as the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force &#8212; which has made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lose all confidence in the doctor.
“I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus, and she is his appointee, and so I don’t have confidence there, no,” Pelosi <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1289912680220954624">said</a> Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
In a piece posted Friday by Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/02/pelosi-birx-trump-coronavirus-misinformation-390422">headlined</a> &#8220;Pelosi trashes Birx,&#8221; the political website said the Speaker has been privately bashing the award-winning immunologist.
“Deborah Birx is the worst. Wow, what horrible hands you’re in,” Pelosi reportedly said in a private meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
&#8220;She accused BIRX of spreading disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic while praising ANTHONY FAUCI, who she said &#8216;came to his senses, and is now a hero,'&#8221; Politico reported.
Birx responded diplomatically on saying Sunday, saying she had “tremendous respect for the Speaker.” But she blasted a report in the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/08/02/us/politics/02reuters-health-coronavirus-usa-pelosi.html?searchResultPosition=8">report</a> that described Birx as having embraced overly optimistic assessments on the virus.
“I have tremendous respect for the Speaker, and I have tremendous respect for her long dedication to the American people, and I think it was unfortunate that the New York Times wrote this article without speaking to me,” she <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/politics/birx-coronavirus-new-phase-cnntv/index.html">said</a> on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I could have brought forth the data. I provide data every single day with an analysis.”
&#8220;This was not a pollyannish view. I’ve never been called pollyannish, or non-scientific, or non-data driven,&#8221; Birx said. &#8220;I will stake my 40-year career on those fundamental principles of using data to implement better programs and save lives.&#8221;
In her CNN appearance, Birx said SARS-CoV2, which causes COVID-19, is more widespread than when it first began sweeping across the nation.
<div class="zn-body__paragraph speakable">&#8220;What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It&#8217;s into the rural as equal urban areas,&#8221; Birx said.</div>
<div></div>
<div class="zn-body__paragraph">&#8220;To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus,&#8221; Birx said. &#8220;If you&#8217;re in multi-generational households, and there&#8217;s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you&#8217;re positive if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities.&#8221;</div>
<div></div>
<div>Birx also blamed public events for the spread. &#8220;It&#8217;s not super spreading individuals, it&#8217;s super spreading events and we need to stop those. We definitely need to take more precautions,&#8221; she said.</div>
<div></div>
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White House Coronavirus Task Force Holds Daily Briefing

Pelosi Says She Has No Confidence In Trump’s COVID-19 Coordinator Dr. Birx Because ‘She Is His Appointee’

Nancy Pelosi

President Trump said on Sunday that the U.S. media is ignoring coronavirus outbreaks in nations around the world as cases have been rising in the United States.
“Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job,” the president wrote on Twitter. “The Fake News doesn’t report this,&#8221; he added. &#8220;USA will be stronger than ever before, and soon!”
Trump&#8217;s tweet included another post that said, &#8220;a State of Disaster has been declared in Victoria over the COVID-19 outbreak and Melbourne residents face strict new restrictions including a nightly curfew and limits on movement outside of the home.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job. The Fake News doesn’t report this. USA will be stronger than ever before, and soon! <a href="https://t.co/pZwjvgmVTO">https://t.co/pZwjvgmVTO</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1289887533250351110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have risen in several countries, The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/a92be68eb840ee875648f1de0110f3da">reported</a> on Sunday. For instance, India saw 54,735 new cases, while the Philippines saw 5,032 and Japan 1,540. &#8220;Governments worldwide have reported 684,075 deaths and 17.8 million cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University,&#8221; the AP reported.
Trump’s comment blasting the U.S. media comes a day after he took issue with a Dr. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who serves on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, who testified before a House subcommittee on Friday and said the U.S. has more cases than European countries because it didn&#8217;t fully shut down.
“If you look at what happened in Europe when they shut down … they really did it to the tune of about 95-plus percent,” Fauci said after panel chair Jim Clyburn (D-SC) presented a chart contrasting COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and Europe. “When you actually look at what [the U.S.] did — even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty — we really functionally shut down only about 50 percent of the totality of the country.”
Trump disagreed.
“Wrong!” Trump wrote in a retweet of a video showing Fauci. “We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases,” the president added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Wrong! We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases. How did Italy, France &amp; Spain do? Now Europe sadly has flare ups. Most of our governors worked hard &amp; smart. We will come back STRONG!
:: <a href="https://t.co/hhwYOrnWZn">https://t.co/hhwYOrnWZn</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1289633359681839105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
There have been 56,086,260 Americans tested for COVID-19, The COVID Tracking Project <a href="https://covidtracking.com/data">reported</a>. Of those, 51,490,389 tested negative. The Projects reports there have been 146,619 deaths &#8212; which equals 0.26% of those tested.
&#8220;Several countries across Europe have reported a recent rise in cases, sparking fears of a resurgence of the disease,&#8221; the BBC reported on Sunday.
<blockquote>Latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show the rate of infection to 28 July in Spain was 44 cases per million people &#8211; compared with 10.5 in the UK. France, Belgium and Germany have also seen increases, and there have been renewed appeals to the public to maintain social distancing and hygiene rules.</blockquote>
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the rising number of those infected can be blamed young people, who have been out and about since the easing of lockdowns across Europe. But WHO says the pandemic seems to be unfolding in &#8220;one big wave&#8221; rather than a series of waves.
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&nbsp;

Coronavirus Emergency In Mumbai

Trump: ‘Fake News’ Ignores ‘Big China Virus Breakouts All Over The World’

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) used his press release announcing his positive COVID-19 diagnosis as an opportunity to scold Republicans on Capitol Hill who have refused to wear masks.
&#8220;I have tested positive for COVID-19,&#8221; Grijalva tweeted Saturday. &#8220;As a result, I will be self-isolating in quarantine. I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick &amp; speedy recovery. COVID-19 is not a joke &amp; we should all take this seriously.&#8221;
Appended to his tweet was his full statement, which read:
<blockquote>
The Attending Physician of the Capitol informed me that I tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, I will be self-isolating in quarantine at his recommendation. I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick and speedy recovery.
While I cannot blame anyone directly for this, this week has shown that there are some Members of Congress who fail to take this crisis seriously. Numerous Republican members routinely strut around the Capitol without a mask to selfishly make a political statement at the expense of their colleagues, staff, and their families. I’m pleased that Speaker Pelosi has mandated the use of masks at the Capitol to keep members and staff safe from those looking to score quick political points. Stopping the spread of a deadly virus should not be a partisan issue.
I urge all of us to recognize the severity of this virus and follow the CDC guidance to keep our family, friends, and loved ones safe. We can all play a part in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I have tested positive for COVID-19. 
As a result, I will be self-isolating in quarantine. I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick &amp; speedy recovery.
COVID-19 is not a joke &amp; we should all take this seriously. 
My full statement: <a href="https://t.co/nnBskdSyTF">pic.twitter.com/nnBskdSyTF</a>
&mdash; Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepRaulGrijalva/status/1289637013394583553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Grijalva&#8217;s diagnosis makes him at least the <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/covid-19#legislators" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">12th member of Congress</a> to test positive for the virus. Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) also recently contracted the disease and has <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/coronavirus-report/509602-gohmert-blames-mask-for-positive-covid-19-test">taken flak</a> for his insistence against wearing a mask. Grijalva recently presided over a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee in which he would have interacted with Gohmert, who tested positive on Wednesday.
District Mayor Muriel Bowser <a href="https://coronavirus.dc.gov/maskorder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ordered</a> Washington, D.C., residents on July 22 to wear masks both in public indoor spaces and even outdoors if &#8220;they are likely to come into contact with another person, such as being within six feet of another person for more than a fleeting time[.]&#8221; The order, however, stipulated that it &#8220;shall not apply to any employees of the federal government while they are on duty.&#8221;
Following Gohmert&#8217;s diagnosis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ordered all representatives to wear masks while on the House floor or risk being thrown out. “One would have hoped that this would have been done as a matter of common decency, but we obviously needed a rule,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/509910-gop-lawmakers-comply-with-pelosis-mask-mandate-for-house-floor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Hill</a>. “I am very glad the Speaker did what she did. I&#8217;m sorry she had to do it.”
Raskin added, “It is a scandalous situation that it comes to members getting sick and potentially exposing everybody else. Everybody&#8217;s nervous.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dc-mayor-exempts-john-lewis-funeral-attendees-from-citys-quarantine-restrictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DC Mayor Exempts John Lewis Funeral Attendees From City’s Quarantine Restrictions</a>
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Grijalva

Democratic Congressman Slams Republicans Without Masks In Statement Announcing Positive COVID-19 Diagnosis

Arizona

Congress

Face Mask

Speaking to a nearly empty House chamber on Thursday, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) delivered an impassioned speech excoriating the legislative body for its failed leadership as U.S. cities burn amid a pandemic and a cratering economy.
After explaining how a recent visit to Independence Hall fixed in his mind the extraordinary nature of American representative government, Roy said, &#8220;This people&#8217;s House, in my opinion, is failing the people of the United States. I’m going to say that again. The people&#8217;s House, the 435 representatives that make up this half of Congress — one-half of one-third of the federal government — is failing the American people.&#8221;
&#8220;It is failing the American people because we literally never debate,&#8221; Roy continued. &#8220;We literally never offer amendments and have any debate here on this floor. We are ruled by a handful of folks who make rooms in back chambers, drop bills on the floor of the House, and then demand we come down and vote on them. By the way, that is both Democrats and Republicans.&#8221;
Roy went on to denounce the intractable bureaucracy the House of Representatives has become, where, he said, &#8220;if you even dare think about offering an amendment to a bill, you gotta go to some Rules Committee to get blessed to be able to even have the ability to offer it. You’ll get shut down in Rules Committee, and then there’s never any debate.&#8221;
&#8220;What kind of a people&#8217;s House is that?&#8221; Roy asked. &#8220;I would posit that it is not one.&#8221;
Roy went on to lament the lack of leadership in Washington, D.C., during a time when &#8220;we have so many issues right now that are tearing our country apart.&#8221;
&#8220;If there were leadership, we would have actual debate,&#8221; Roy said. &#8220;We would actually sit down here and come up with ideas, and offer solutions, and then hammer them out. We would actually sit down at a table like a small business or sit down at a table like a family and balance a budget. We would have a debate about the proper policies to deal with a pandemic instead of pointing fingers and politicizing a virus.&#8221;
Pivoting to recent violence roiling cities like Portland, Oregon, Roy also railed against how that crisis, too, has been politicized. He also slammed Democrats for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barr-shreds-democrats-during-hostile-questioning-democrats-wont-condemn-mob-violence-attacks-on-federal-courts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the way they treated</a> Attorney General William Barr during his congressional testimony on Tuesday.
&#8220;What did they do when the Attorney General of the United States was here before the House Judiciary Committee but sit there and talk over him and mock him and relentlessly stand on the side of lawless Marxists who are trying to destroy a city of the United States of America, instead of standing up alongside our law enforcement?&#8221; Roy said.
&#8220;What are we doing? What are we doing as a country?&#8221; Roy asked, pointing out that Congress planned to cram in a few more votes Friday before taking a month-long recess &#8220;while our businesses burn, literally and figuratively; while millions of Americans don&#8217;t have jobs &#8230;”
&#8220;It is an absolute embarrassment what has become of the people&#8217;s House,&#8221; Roy scolded. &#8220;We should be ashamed. We should be ashamed that we are not here doing the work of the American people.&#8221; He added that the Democrats seem &#8220;hellbent on tearing down this great country brick by brick, statue by statue, thread by thread of our flag, word by word of our anthem. It’s a mockery of this House.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pt 1: A tribute to my staffer&#39;s sister, Rebekah, who passed two weeks ago, along with another college student, while fighting for their beliefs. They embody the greatness of America. <a href="https://t.co/fNKPDPLIMd">pic.twitter.com/fNKPDPLIMd</a>
&mdash; Rep. Chip Roy (@RepChipRoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChipRoy/status/1289223458543611904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pt. 2: 51+ million Americans are out of a job, millions more are suffering, and the People&#39;s House is adjourning this afternoon. <a href="https://t.co/nRktmVlU9D">pic.twitter.com/nRktmVlU9D</a>
&mdash; Rep. Chip Roy (@RepChipRoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChipRoy/status/1289229636052934657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pt. 3: I will not runaway from defending the greatness of America. I will not stand here and accept that the House of Representatives isn&#39;t doing its job. <a href="https://t.co/arAmtpSkle">pic.twitter.com/arAmtpSkle</a>
&mdash; Rep. Chip Roy (@RepChipRoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChipRoy/status/1289245028146188299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-congressman-introduces-legislation-to-install-national-debt-clocks-into-congressional-rooms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GOP Congressman Introduces Legislation To Install National Debt Clocks Into Congressional Rooms</a>
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Chip Roy

WATCH: ‘An Absolute Embarrassment’: Texas Congressman Blasts Bureaucratic House For ‘Politicizing A Virus’

U.S. House of Representatives

The title of this article has been revised to avoid the suggestion that lawmakers who attended John Lewis&#8217;s funeral service in Atlanta were given special exemption by D.C.&#8217;s mayor. The order, passed three days before the funeral, already exempted government activity and the U.S. Capitol is not covered by the order.
Lawmakers who attended the funeral of late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) in Atlanta earlier this week are exempt from Washington, D.C.&#8217;s, self-quarantine restrictions, according to District Mayor Muriel Bowser&#8217;s office.
According to the mayor&#8217;s July 24 <a href="https://coronavirus.dc.gov/page/mayor%E2%80%99s-order-2020-081-requirement-self-quarantine-after-non-essential-travel-during-covid-19">order</a>, titled &#8220;Requirement to Self-Quarantine After Non-Essential Travel During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency,&#8221; any residents who travel to &#8220;high-risk&#8221; areas for &#8220;non-essential&#8221; reasons must self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor themselves for symptoms of the virus.
The order mandates in part:
<blockquote>
1. All residents and persons traveling to or from “high-risk areas” within the prior fourteen (14) days for non-essential travel must self-quarantine for fourteen (14) days following their return or arrival to the District.
2. Persons who are self-quarantining after non-essential travel must:
a. Stay at their residence or in a hotel room, leaving only for essential medical appointments or treatment or to obtain food and other essential goods when the delivery of food or other essential goods to their residence or hotel is not feasible;
b. Not invite or allow guests, other than caregivers, into their quarantined residence or hotel room; and
c. Self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and seek appropriate medical advice or testing if COVID-19 symptoms arise.
3. Persons who are traveling through a “high-risk area,” such as through an airport or by vehicle, shall not be subject to this quarantine requirement.
</blockquote>
The order, which remains in effect at least until Oct. 9, goes on to define &#8220;high-risk areas&#8221; as &#8220;locations where the seven (7)-day moving average daily new COVID-19 case rate is ten (10) or more per one hundred thousand (100,000) persons.&#8221;
By such a metric, the entire <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/kemp-to-renew-ban-on-mask-mandates-extend-coronavirus-restrictions/3EKYCVG6VVGWFDX6YIH7YP2QZA/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">state of Georgia</a> is considered &#8220;high-risk,&#8221; and a recent federal report listed it in the &#8220;red zone&#8221; because of its skyrocketing cases of the virus. Atlanta&#8217;s Fulton County averaged 228 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days, according to most recent statistics from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/georgia-coronavirus-cases.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a>.
Regarding why attendees at Lewis&#8217; funeral escaped the strictures of self-quarantine, Bowser Press Secretary Susana Castillo characterized the ceremony as an &#8220;essential&#8221; government activity, telling <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/dc-says-john-lewiss-funeral-was-government-activity-attendees-exempt-quarantine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Just the News</a> on Friday, &#8220;Government activity is essential, and the Capitol of the United States is exempt from the Mayor’s Order.&#8221;
The mayor&#8217;s office still appears to deem the funerals of regular people non-essential activity, however. When asked whether attendees of non-government funerals in high-risk areas are still required to self-quarantine under the mayor&#8217;s order, Castillo responded simply, &#8220;Yes.&#8221;
Members of Congress are also exempt from Bowser&#8217;s recent <a href="https://coronavirus.dc.gov/maskorder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">edict</a> mandating D.C. residents wear masks both in public indoor spaces and even outside if they &#8220;are likely to come into contact with another person, such as being within six feet of another person for more than a fleeting time[.]&#8221; Those who neglect to cover up expose themselves to the possibility of fines up to $1,000 per violation.
The order goes on to stipulate: &#8220;The enforcement provisions of this Order shall not be applied to persons in the judicial or legislative branches of the District government while those persons are on duty; and shall not apply to any employees of the federal government while they are on duty.&#8221;
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Lewis funeral

Lawmakers Who Attended John Lewis Funeral Do Not Have To Undergo D.C. Quarantine

John Lewis

Muriel Bowser

Washington D.C.

A legal scholar tested Jesus and asked simply, &#8220;Who is my neighbor?&#8221;
In reply, Jesus said: &#8220;A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. &#8216;Look after him,&#8217; he said, &#8216;and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'&#8221; — Luke 10:30-35.
The story of the good Samaritan is Jesus&#8217; way of telling us to have mercy on and compassion for our fellow man. Sometimes, we must burden ourselves to protect and take care of strangers among us, or even those who we would not like in normal times.
My wife and I are struggling with the decision of sending our children back to school. My wife has lung cancer. It puts her in the category of vulnerable people susceptible to bad cases of COVID-19.
A lot of people do not believe COVID-19 is spreading as badly as is claimed. Some know people who claim they or their friends tested positive for COVID-19, though they did not actually take the test. Others believe hospitals are not overcrowded or masks are ineffective or most people are going to get mild or asymptomatic cases.
But everyone agrees that there are those, like my wife, who could wind up in the hospital or dead should the virus invade our homes. Since this pandemic began in February, I have done all the grocery shopping in our home. I run the errands. I do five hours of radio a day, get the family fed between shows and run the masked gauntlet at grocery stores on the weekend.
I do all that to keep my wife safe. I wore masks when others laughed at me. Friends told me I was overreacting. They do not understand that, even in the best-case scenario of a conspiracy with made-up data and an exaggerated pandemic that only affects the already medically fragile, my wife is at risk.
When all of us can send our kids to school, they will be surrounded with kids whose own parents think this is overblown and overstated. Those families, to avoid burdening themselves for what they see as a fiction, will not take the steps others take to avoid the virus.
We want our kids to be with their friends and teachers. Many of you do, too. But it requires us to trust one another. Yes, like the good Samaritan, it will require some people to burden themselves in ways they find inconvenient just so others can be safe.
Maybe we should keep our kids from school. But someone still must grocery shop. There is no COVID-19 cure. The virus will be around for a while. All I can ask is that, for the sake of your parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors who are elderly or medically vulnerable, you accept the inconveniences in order to keep them safe.
When school resumes, it will be a terrible psychological burden on the child who comes home with the virus and gives it to her grandmother or parent. We can stop that from happening if those who think it is no big deal still treat it as if it is one. But I just am not sure people are as willing to be the good Samaritan as they are to be the priest and Levite.
To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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COVID-19

Prof Who Founded Anti-Harassment Group Created Hoax Professor Dying Of COVID

Protests Against Israeli PM Netanyahu Escalate Amid Coronavirus Blowback, Corruption Claims

HAWORTH: Why Conservatives Should Fight For Reopening Public Schools

Rep. Louie Gohmert’s Daughter Publicly Rebukes Him For Not Wearing A Mask, Says Trump Has ‘No Remorse’

White House Considering Executive Order Suspending Evictions, Payroll Tax As Congress Stalls On Coronavirus Relief

Is Herd Immunity An Effective Strategy? Here’s What The Latest Studies Found.

Democrat Seth Moulton: Red States ‘Are Getting What Was Coming To Them’ With Coronavirus

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Health Experts Warn That Government Shutdowns Are Bringing Back ‘The Biggest Monster Of Them All’: Tuberculosis

Federal Official Says Nationwide Lockdown Needed To Spur ‘Robust Economic Recovery’

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Dr. Birx Issues New Warning As Coronavirus Pandemic Enters ‘A New Phase’

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